The Mating Season: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (7 page)

Tony finished his email and stood up from his desk. “Okay, that’s done, let’s go,” he said curtly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m still going to keep my sidearm. I know guns might weird you out, but...” he trailed off.

“Yeah that’s fine. You’ll be sleeping in the living room anyway, so you’ll be the first one he sees if he kicks in the front door.” She grinned at the thought of Smiley barging in on the fully armed Tony.

He really didn’t need the gun, to be honest. He could just jump into his feral form and pin the guy to the ground, but the RCMP wouldn’t really approve of that tactic. For one, they would find it pretty unbelievable, and another, he didn’t want Kim finding out just yet.

They walked out of the police station together and through the bountiful fruit orchard. Tony reached up and gently pulled a heavy branch full of peaches down to eye level and examined one of the bright fruit. They still felt hard to the touch so they weren’t ready to harvest quite yet, yet the sweet intoxicating aroma they gave off caused the mouth to water.

“Hey, I just realized I don’t have much in the way of food for two people,” Kim said. “I’ve been living off of TV dinners for the past couple of weeks because they were cheap at the general store.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll run over to my place and grab some stuff. I don’t want you leaving your home unless absolutely necessary,”

“You have a point. I hope I don’t lose my job over this.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Rusty is good people. He likes you, he won’t fire you because of this. It’s not the city.”

“Sweet,” Kim said as she unlocked her door. “I’ll go tidy up in here and drag out a spare pillow and blanket while you go over to your place and find some food.”

“Great idea,” Tony said with a grin. “You don’t mind game meat do you? That’s mostly how we get our meat around here, we hunt it.”

“Nah, I like it. Keith made me a nice baked stew the other day and it was delicious,” she said with a fond smile.

“Yeah, he always knew how to cook. He’s the one who absorbed all that talent in the family. I’m lucky not to burn water.”

“Well, I’m able to cook pretty decently so you don’t have to worry. Anyway, come on over when you’ve scraped up enough food.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony scoffed as he headed off to his house. He flashed a quick grin back at Kim as he crossed the yards.

Kim closed the door and sighed to herself. What on earth had she gotten herself into? Keith would be livid if he found out Tony was sleeping over, even if it was just on the couch. Well, livid wouldn’t be the right term for it, hurt. He would be deeply hurt. She still didn’t know why she cared what he felt. It wasn’t like they were in a real relationship. They had sex once, that was it. She kept trying to fool herself about the feelings she had, but it wasn’t working very well.

She picked up the used TV dinner trays from the coffee table and put them in a garbage bag. She then dug around in one of the boxes that was marked as linens, and found a white pillow and another white duvet. That should keep him comfortable, she thought.

Her couch was a bare bones futon from a discount furniture warehouse, so at least he won’t be all cramped. A tall guy like that wouldn’t be comfortable on a couch, that’s for sure.

She scrambled to tidy up her kitchen a little. Boxes were still strewn everywhere so it was difficult to find things. She might as well get Tony to help her unpack while he was here. All the drama and work had kept her from getting everything put away.

There was a polite knock at the door. Kim finished putting her kitchen in order and went to see who it was. It could have been either Keith or Tony, to be honest. It was Tony and he was carrying a few grocery bags full of food. He had a big grin on his chiseled face.

“Here you go. A few pounds of deer and elk, a bit of bear, and some rabbit and pheasant. I think that should tide us over. If not, I can go out and get us a bit more. Also had some frozen veggies from my garden last year. Oh, and a bag of potatoes from the store.”

“Awesome! Lemme grab one of those bags.” She picked up the bag of potatoes from the step. Tony slid through the door and brought the rest of the food to the kitchen. He put the stuff away and noted how much Kim hadn’t unpacked yet.

“Are you gonna need help with all this? I’ll be glad to help unpack some things.”

“Sure I’ve been too busy up until now to get to it, with the new job and Smiley’s bullshit, you get the idea.”

“Sure do,” Tony replied. “Anywhere you want me to start?”

“Just start in the kitchen. I tried to do some, but there’s still a bunch of dishes to unpack. Just toss them in the dishwasher until it’s full. I think there are still some dishwasher tabs in one of the boxes in there.”

“Roger that.” He got started on one of the smaller boxes.

“I’ll be in my room, unpacking my clothes.”

Tony nodded as he carefully unwrapped each dish from the brown paper that cushioned it. The dishwasher was open and he carefully loaded each dish in the waiting racks. “If there are any left I’ll just wash them in the sink.”

“Sounds good!” Kim replied as she turned down the hall into her bedroom.

She opened one of the wardrobe boxes and pulled out her dresses, one by one, and hung them up in her large closet. Cute little sun dresses, long flowing formal gowns, all of which she picked up from the various stores she worked at in the course of her life. She liked to support the stores that helped support her. She was also a sucker for cute clothes.

She moved on to a box containing her casual wear. Jeans, T-shirts, shorts, all got stuffed unceremoniously in the proper drawers in her mirrored dresser. Her bed was still in pieces, propped up against the far wall, and the mattress on the ground, with the bolts and the Allen key attached to one of the metal rails. Well, with Tony here, maybe he could help her put it together. She needed to take care of the boxes first to give them some room, though.

She found the box containing her lingerie. She opened it up and took out each piece, one by one and folded the delicate items properly and placed them in a drawer she had reserved for them. Delicate lace bras, bustiers, lacy thongs, all went in her special drawer. At the bottom of the lingerie box she found her rabbit vibrator. Why did she wait so long to unpack this box, she wondered. She quickly stashed the vibe in the drawer when she heard Tony clear his throat before entering the open bedroom door.

“I’m done in the kitchen, is there anything else you want me to do?”

“Wow, didn’t take you very long. Well, I’m done with the boxes in here, I could use some help putting this bed together.”

Tony tried not to wrinkle his nose at the lingering scent of the encounter between Keith and her. “Sure I’d love to.” He couldn’t stand to be in the same room in which she and his cousin had mated. He promised her he wouldn’t make a pass, but her intoxicating female aroma that wafted through her bedroom tugged at his self-control and he felt his cock stirring in his pants.

Kim smiled at him. “Thanks. Can you help me lift up this mattress to get it out of the way?”

“Sure,” Tony said in a strained voice, trying not to let his irritation and arousal show. He grasped the mattress edge and lifted it up in unison with Kim. He propped it up against the wall and made sure it wouldn’t fall down.

Kim grabbed the bed rails, headboard and footboard from their place against the wall and moved them to where she wanted the bed to go. Tony went to work putting together the bed. He started at the headboard. She held the rails up off of the floor until Tony affixed them to the footboard. When they were finished, they both moved the mattress back onto the bed frame.

“There we go, all finished,” Tony announced. Not soon enough, he thought to himself.

“Nice,” she said. She looked at her phone to see what time it was. “Hey, it’s getting to be around dinner time, I think I’ll go fix us something to eat.”

Tony grinned and nodded. “That works fine for me. I’ll see what I can get on the TV.”

“Satellite is already hooked up. The remote’s on the table,” Kim called from the kitchen. She decided to make smothered venison steaks with chopped vegetables, gravy and some mashed potatoes.

Tony closed the blinds and then channel surfed as Kim puttered in the kitchen. A news station caught his eye.

The report was about a man who had broken into a house in the next town over and murdered the family who lived there. He sat up as the story grabbed his attention.

“The family of four were murdered in their own home last night. The police won’t tell us how they were killed, or what the motive was. They did tell us, however, there was a message painted on the wall. It said 'Kim, you’re next'. Police have speculated that the person responsible for this brutal crime is none other than Smiley Rockborne, who is still at large for the murder of a couple from Golden, roughly six hours away from this sleepy little community. There was only one survivor of the previous attack, Kim Smith, Smiley’s estranged ex fiancée.”

“Hey, Kim,” Tony called out.

“Yeah?” she answered.

“Do you have any family living at the band about an hour away?” he asked.

“Yeah, I have an aunt, uncle and a couple of young cousins, why do you ask?”

“You might want to come in here, then,” he said sadly.

Kim walked into the living room carrying a spatula, which she promptly dropped as she saw the news story unfold. She immediately recognized the house that was behind the red headed news anchor. “No, no, no,” she moaned as she collapsed on the floor. “It can’t be...”

“They think it was Smiley. It was clearly a message for you,” Tony gently informed her.

Kim’s grief swiftly turned to anger and resolve towards Smiley. “You know, I hope they catch the son of a bitch.”

“We will, don’t worry. He’s trying to psych you out, to go to him so you can stop him from killing any more of your family.”

“I have no more family,” she said sadly. “They’re all dead now. The only people who are important to me now are here in Predator Springs.”

Tony was touched by her sadness. He turned off the TV and got up from the couch and took her by the shoulders. She looked up at him and he said, “Look, I promise, I swear we’ll get this guy. He’s tried so hard to take everything away from you, but he’s failed. You have us, this band, Keith, and me. He can’t take that away from you. This is your new home now, and we’ll protect you.” He drew her in for a hug.

Kim placed her head on Tony’s lean chest. His strong heartbeat soothed her turbulent emotions. She inhaled deeply to keep herself from crying and caught a whiff of Tony’s male musk. Her brain began to fog over again. This time she was determined to fight it. What was it with the men around here, smelling so much of maleness? The ones who were married, such as Rusty and Mike never did. Unless she didn’t notice it. Junior gave it off, but for some reason it didn’t dumb her down like Keith and Tony did.

Her body woke up as Tony’s strong hands caressed her back. Not again, she groaned inwardly. What is wrong with me? She looked up at his handsome face, eyes filled with vulnerable confusion. He touched her cheek and wiped the tears that flowed after she found out her aunt’s family were murdered.

Kim was mesmerized by his touch. She closed her eyes and rested her head in his palm, feeling it’s warmth against her cheek, his other arm held her tight around her waist. She opened her eyes again and saw Tony’s sharp features soften as she reached up and drew his face down to hers for a kiss. She had no control over what her body was doing, and at that point she didn’t care. The comfort of another person during this time was all she wanted.

Tony was more than happy to offer all the comfort he could to this stunning woman. As his lips met hers, she felt an electric current of desire run through her body. His agile tongue darted across her lips seeking entry. Kim opened her mouth eagerly as Tony strengthened his embrace. She noticed his tongue had a slight roughness to it as well.

She moaned into Tony’s mouth as she felt his strong hand move under her shirt and squeeze one of her perky breasts through her bra. Tony broke the kiss, and began to nuzzle and nip at Kim’s neck. With each sharp nip, Kim grew more and more aroused. This was odd since she wasn’t into the pain thing.

Tony couldn’t control himself. He had wanted Kim since the day he had met her. He was intensely jealous that Keith got to her first. His feline nature couldn’t stand the competition. He needed to mark her for himself. He growled as he lifted Kim’s shirt over her head and unhooked her bra. He threw both into the corner of the living room before picking Kim up in his powerful arms and taking her to the couch.

He lay her down on the couch, and stared down at her beautiful, half naked body. The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, driving him mad. He didn’t want to change in front of her, but oh, that woman was something else. Rusty was right. She was a very special lady indeed. There was something inside her that called to him. It called to every single male shifter of his tribe. Rusty refused to tell him exactly what it was, but whatever it was, it drove male shifters wild. He hungrily dove for her breasts.

Kim gasped as she felt Tony’s mouth clamp down on her nipple. She grasped his long black hair as he nuzzled, nipped and licked at her sensitive nipples causing jolts of pleasure to surge through her body. He wasn’t as gentle as Keith, but at that moment she didn’t care. With each breath she inhaled more of Tony’s intoxicating musky male scent, driving her further into animalistic passion.